


WNE55

by tomatopudding



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-23
Updated: 2013-03-23
Packaged: 2017-12-06 05:15:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/731843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tomatopudding/pseuds/tomatopudding
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This was an assignment for my creative writing class. We had to write a short story with a fantastical element to it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	WNE55

Bertram Hart had been a lawyer for close to thirty-five years and he’d never come across a case as frustrating as this one. Not that homicide cases were fun to begin with, but this one was particularly nasty. There were several witnesses, but the accused had both done the crime and not done it, if all the witnesses testimonies were to be believed. 

“Have you anything else to add, counsellor?”

Bertram looked up from his copious notes to see that his opponent had just seated himself and Judge Havershem was looking expectantly at him, his long orangutan arms crossed haphazardly across his chest. Bertram’s co-counsellor, Harold shifted on his perch, his talons clicking against the wood. 

Bertram and Harold had been working together for almost as long as Bertram had been at this particular firm and they made a very good team. Bertram’s long neck gave him an imposing height and witnesses seemed almost compelled to confess when faced with Bertram’s accusing hoof. Harold, on the other hand, had an ability Bertram did not: carrying papers and things with only minor talon damage if he was particularly careful, and Harold was always particularly careful. Harold and Bertram almost never argued and they were quite good friends, really. This case, however, was proving to be difficult. Harold didn’t quite agree with Bertram’s approach, but Bertram was the primary counsellor, so he had final say.

Harold’s colorful wings fluttered as he settled on Bertram’s shoulder.

“Were you still planning to bring it in to testify?”

Bertram rolled one brown eye downwards, attempting to catch sight of his companion.

“Do speak up, old boy,” Bertram requested primly, “I can’t quite hear you from down there.”

Harold huffed an impatient breath and took flight once more, landing fairly ungracefully between Bertram’s horns. He leaned over, his beak settling beside one of Bertram’s silky ears.

“Oh yes, of course,” Bertram replied after Harold had repeated himself, “I do remember. My brain has not yet begun to sour, my friend.”

Harold did not need to clarify what he meant by “it.”

The judge harumphed and shifted in his seat, “Today, counsellor,” he requested, one long arm looping up to scratch the top of his ginger head. 

Bertram bowed his head, his neck curving into a graceful arch. In the process, he caused Harold to lose his balance and nearly topple to the floor. The macaw squawked indignantly and flared his wings, barely missing the ground.

“Oh dear, sorry, old chap,” Bertram murmured.

“Yes, yes,” Harold said, hopping up onto the table, preening his feathers with his beak, “Do continue, his honor is getting restless.”

“Too right you are,” agreed the judge.

“As you wish, your honor,” Bertram intoned, “I have one more witness, if you please. I would like to call to the stand WNE55, also known as Wynnie.”

A gasp echoed through the courtroom. WNE55 was a slave’s designation number and everyone knew it. 

The witness was escorted into the court room by the two guards who were posted at the door. As the witness was led up the aisle, a series of murmurs and heated whispers followed. One lioness began to fan herself furiously and an ostrich fellow near the back collapsed into a dead faint.

“Order! Order!” the judge commanded, his gavel banging, “Counsellor Hart, you know the repercussions of bringing such a...such a thing into my courtroom?”

“Yes, quite, your honor,” Bertram assured, “Quite.”

So far, the witness was behaving itself, but then again, being bracketed by two burly grizzlies would do that to anyone, or anything for that matter.

Bertram hoped that it would continue to behave itself, it was really his key witness after all, but there was always a risk with such creatures. If it answered all questions posed to it in a courteous manner, then the testimony might be taken into account. If not...Bertram shuddered to think. If it did cause any problems, Bertram would be able to regret bringing a human into the courtroom while waiting for his own execution.


End file.
